The first London Flower Show of the year
January 19, 2007
This week saw the first Royal Horticultural Society London Flower Show of the year. Staging a flower show in the middle of winter might seem rather a gamble but this has always been an interesting event revealing an unexpectedly wide range of plants to provide winter interest. With botanical paintings plus the temptation to add to your library from the huge stock of second hand books from Mike Park (no website, yet… email to go on his mailing list) my visit really brightened a wet and windy winter’s day.
My judging committee did not give any Gold Medals this time, but the overall standard was certainly good. Dibleys showed some superb begonias and streptocarpus, beautifully grown plants staged to both create a spectacle and show off the individual specimens. Look out for their new Streptocarpus ‘Seren’ in rich yellow with a purple picotee.
A couple of other plants caught my eye. Long Acre Plants showed an early form of the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, in full flower, with masses of buds still to come. It’s a hybrid of their own. Nursery owner Nigel Rowland told me that it had not been forced and had already been in flower for some time.
Avon Bulbs showed two forms of current winter favourites Arum italicum I’d not seen before. Alan Street told me that ‘Splish Splash’ came from East Lambrook Manor in Somerset, the wonderful modern cottage garden created by the late Margery Fish. It features foliage randomly speckled in white. ‘Miss Janay Hall’ has smaller leaves with bright yellow variegation; sometimes half of a leaf comes bright yellow. Both are distinct and look to be valuable addition to the winter foliage display.
There are seven more RHS London Flower Shows this year, all are well worth a visit. You can find out more here. The venue in central London, ten minutes walk from Victoria station.